Clutching at a straw or two here but if my 'only' debt was a mortgage I had on my house (i.e. I had no unsecured loans, credit cards, etc) my answer to the question "Are you in debt?" would be "no".
Technically, I am in debt to the mortgage company, but because it is a secured loan against something worth more than the mortgage I personally wouldn't class it as a debt.
As I say, I'm technically incorrect but with my 'simple human being' hat on I wouldn't see it like that.
Who's to say that Cortese wasn't using similar human artistic licence when saying that the club no longer has any debt? Perhaps people are taking his words too literally?